our people, having discovered their conspiracy, and perceived that their death was concluded on, bethought them on their retreat, which shall be described in the following letter.

FATHER PAUL RAGUENEAU TO THE REV. FATHER JACQUES RENAULT, PROVINCIAL OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS IN THE PROVINCE OF FRANCE.

Pax Christi.

My R. Father, The present is to inform Y. R. of our return from the Iroquois mission, loaded with some spoils We bear in our hands more than five hundred children and a number of adults,

rescued from Hell.

the most part of whom died after Baptism.

We have reestablished Faith and piety in the hearts of We have

a poor captive church, the first foundation of which we had laid in the Huron Country.

proclaimed the gospel unto all the Iroquois Nations so that they are henceforth without excuse, and

God will be fully justified against them at the great day of judgment.

FIRST SETTLEMENT AT ONONDAGA,

The Devil enraged at seeing us reap so fine a harvest and enjoy so amply the fruits of our enterfor prise, made use of the inconstancy of the Iroquois to drive us from the centre of his estates renewed the than follow their volatile humor, war against to these Barbarians, without other motive the French, the first blows of which were discharged on our worthy Christian Hurons, who went up ;

with us to Onnontagu6 at the close of the last summer, and who were cruelly massacred in our arms and in our bosom by the most signal treason imaginable. They then made prisoners of their poor wives and even burned some of them with their children of three and four years, at a slow fire. Tins bloody execution was followed by the murder of three Frenchmen at Montreal by the Oneidas, who scalped them and carried these as if in triumph into their villages in token of declared